What Jonathan Adler Eats for Breakfast

Welcome to My Morning Routine, where we take a look at how people kick-start the day. And by “people” we mean celebrities.

Jonathan Adler is a potter. Really and truly. That’s how he started, anyway, and in 1998 he opened a store in which to sell his ceramics in New York City. Since then, as we all know, he has become a groovy, Technicolor force to be reckoned with in the home design world. Adler now owns handfuls of stores in the U.S., he opened his first in the U.K. last year, and his third book, 100 Ways to Happy Chic Your Life, was published this month and is already the talk of the town. Below, he talks to us about his morning routine, which includes his husband,
Simon Doonan, author and creative ambassador at large of Barneys; his dog, Liberace; and a whole lot of happy. –Julia Bainbridge

I get up at 6:45. On the nose.

I try and sneak out of bed first because whoever wakes up second has to walk the dog. So I sneak downstairs and think I’ve won.

I eat brekky, which is All-Bran mixed with granola, Fage 2% yogurt with fresh berries, and about 9 million cups of tea. That’s what I have. Every. Single. Morning.

Full disclosure: We have a nanny, even though we have no children–we’re sort of children. I have the most civilized life on earth. So when I come down to brekky in the morning, it’s all laid out and ditto for dinner. So I’m guilty, but so happy about it.

Simon and I were watching Miss Marple, and she had this nanny, and we thought, “Miss Marple is a lifestyle visionary!” So Miss Marple inspired us.

I read the Times, the Pos,t and Women’s Wear cover to cover. And then I go to the gym. Every morning.

Then I waddle to work. My office is about 15 minutes from home. That is the most important thing on earth to me, having an office that’s within walking distance from my home.

On the spectrum of health nut, I’m moderate. I’m moderate in everything I do except for volume of food, which is completely immoderate, which is why I work out immoderately. I eat like a high school athlete and exercise like a high school athlete.

Simon always says we eat like lesbians: clean, simple, healthy. This is not what one should be saying to a cooking magazine, but we eschew the whole experimental food movement that you see entirely too much of on cooking shows. I like food to be clean, simple, and scrumptious. Roast chicken, grilled salmon, homemade apple pies–yum.

The one ritual we have: post-dinner Ping-Pong games. The winner? Obviously, moi. Always. Sometimes I let him win a point or two just to keep him happy. In his defense, I did grow up having a typical American Ping-Pong table. And I’m also naturally more athletic and talented.

Simon is English. So we devolve into the same ritual of bickering that you’ll find in any English household, which is, “Who made the last cup of tea? Why didn’t you make a cup of tea?”